backbiter
A person who says nasty things about another person behind the second person's back: that is, out of their sight and hearing.
Noun
- A person who says nasty things about another person behind the second person's back: that is, out of their sight and hearing.
- […] here were no Gibers, Cenſurers, Backbiters, Pick-pockets, Highwaymen, Houſebreakers, Attorneys, Bawds, Buffoons, Gameſters, Politicians, Wits, ſplenetick tedious Talkers, Controvertiſts, Raviſhers, Murderers,...
- She better not hear none of them old backbiters talking about her husband! - 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Virago Press (2018), page 143:
Origin
From Middle English bakbitere, bakbytere, bacbitere, equivalent to backbite + -er.